Judge Disqualifies Gotti's Lawyer From Representing Him at Trial

By ARNOLD H. LUBASCH

Published: July 27, 1991

Bruce Cutler, the flamboyant, forceful lawyer who won three dramatic court victories for John Gotti, was disqualified yesterday from representing the reputed Mafia leader in his next trial.

In a stunning ruling, a Federal judge barred Mr. Cutler and two other well-known lawyers from appearing for the defense in Mr. Gotti's racketeering trial scheduled for Sept. 23 in Federal District Court in Brooklyn.

It was a tactical triumph for prosecutors, who have been frustrated by the failure to convict Mr. Gotti, described by authorities as head of the Gambino crime family and the nation's most powerful organized-crime leader. Possibility of Being a Witness

The judge's ruling involved an unusual issue. The prosecution had sought the disqualifications because the lawyers appeared on secretly taped conversations that could be evidence about the Gambino operation and require them to testify in the trial.

Defense lawyers said the conversations should be protected by the lawyer-client privilege. But prosecutors contended that the discussions, taped at Mr. Gotti's Manhattan headquarters at the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, went beyond the normal communication between lawyers and clients and that Mr. Gotti's lawyers had acted as "house counsel" for the crime group.

The prosecutors noted that Mr. Gotti referred to the lawyers on the tapes as "high-priced errand boys" and spoke of the need to have lawyers who would protect the larger interests of the Gambino family.

Last week, in rejecting the defense's motion to suppress the tapes, Judge I. Leo Glasser said, "Not every communication between an attorney and his client is privileged." Details of the conversations are not known because the tapes are sealed.

The ruling created an air of uncertainty over the trial, which could be delayed to provide time for new lawyers to take over the case.

With Mr. Cutler at his side, Mr. Gotti has beaten back three major efforts by prosecutors to convict him. He was acquitted in 1986 of assault charges in Queens. In 1987, he was found not guilty of Federal racketeering charges in Brooklyn. Last year, Mr. Gotti was acquitted of assault charges in the shooting of a union official.

At a news conference in his office yesterday, Mr. Cutler said: "The Federal Government doesn't want a fair fight. They can't win a jury trial. So the only thing they can do is break up this team." No decision has been made on who will succeed Mr. Cutler in court, he said. Although the judge's ruling bars him from appearing in front of the jury, he added, he will work for the defense behind the scenes.

But the United States Attorney heading the prosecution, Andrew J. Maloney, said it would not be clear whether Mr. Cutler could work in the background until the judge had issued a more detailed decision.

In his one-page ruling, Judge Glasser said he was granting the Government motion and would issue a full decision later. The disqualification is a pretrial ruling that cannot be appealed. But if the defendants are convicted, it might be a ground for appealing the conviction.

Mr. Maloney said he wanted the disqualifications because lawyers who were part of the evidence could not represent the defendants in front of a jury. He said they were potential witnesses who could be called by either side to explain the taped conversations.

Besides Mr. Cutler, the ruling disqualified Gerald L. Shargel, who represented a co-defendant of Mr. Gotti, and John L. Pollok, who assisted the defense of another defendant.

Mr. Shargel said yesterday, "When I represent a client, I fight with all my heart, and if this is the consequence, I have to live with it."

In a court hearing this year, a chief assistant to Mr. Maloney, John Gleeson, contended that Mr. Cutler and Mr. Shargel were "house counsel" for the Gambino organization. He quoted Mr. Gotti as saying on a tape: "Where does it end, the Gambino crime family? This is the Shargel-Cutler-and-who-do-you-call-it crime family."

Prof. Stephen Gillers of the New York University Law School said yesterday of the ruling: "It's not common for a judge to disqualify a lawyer under the advocate-witness rule. That says a lawyer shall not wear both the hat of an advocate and the hat of a witness."

Law-enforcement authorities contend that Mr. Gotti became the Gambino boss by ordering the murder of his reputed predecessor, Paul Castellano, in 1985.